Parker Valby diss journalists - the new Sha'Carri?

And so we have here the usual kind of "pop" adulation that passes for a serious interest in the sport. Apart from such fans, who else knows or cares about who she is? Or any US runner, for that matter? As a sport that interests the masses it simply doesn't figure now.

Crybaby Armstronglivs at it again.

Valby lives rent free in this dudes head 😂 bro is suffering from an extreme case of undiagnosed VALBYMANIA

People are now spending 100 times more of their time absorbing that "fluff" then they are with your hard hitting journalism.

Another fan shows what her fans are like.

I'm not offering "hard-hitting journalism". I am engaging with "fluff" like you on a social media site.

She doesn't have any leg speed, case closed. All this extra stuff is just attention-grabbing noise. In any race where the other competitors have similar aerobic capacities but faster last laps, Valby loses.

Being on this board and a fan of running, I am very aware of Parker Valby's accomplishments and am impressed by what she has done in the sport. That said, I wouldn't call myself a fan and have tried to stay away from commentary on her as a person.

I gained respect for her at the trials and feel like she deserves credit for the story that I will share. I was lucky enough to be at the trials this time around. We were walking out of the stadium headed for dinner following the session where the 5k final took place. As we were walking, we saw Valby in a group with some other athletes starting to leave the area. Some people saw them, but weren't saying anything, when a couple of teenage girls recognized her. They were a little bit giggly and excited, but also did not say anything. A few seconds later, one of their dads yelled to her about how his daughter would love to have a photo or something of the sort. He was probably about 30m away from her when he said it, so it brought attention. Parker had just finished 4th and I can only imagine was ready to escape, but was now confronted with a group who wanted photos, autographs, and whatever else. I bet Parker was not in a mood where this was what she wanted to do, but she did it. Because the dad had been loud, it caught the attention of others who wanted the same treatment. We didn't stick around to see if Parker took photos with everybody, but she was still doing it as we walked away.

We ask for people to help grow the sport and in a moment that she probably wanted nothing to do with it, she took on the responsibility to interact with some kids (and pushy parents). Good on her. There were no media cameras there to let people know that this had happened. There were just a few people, who may not have been thinking about how disappointed Parker must have been in that moment to have finished 4th, got a chance to meet one of their running heroes and have a great experience with her. Going into the meet, I did not expect Parker to make an Olympic team, but after seeing her interact with fans after her disappointing 5k, I was happy to see her qualify in the 10k.

She did the same thing after her 10K, which is granted much easier than after the 4th place finish. She spent an enormous amount of time circling the track and talking to the fans in the stands along with photos and autographs. Do T&F fans want to grow the sport, or not?

I don't think Valby is as good in her events as Sha'Carri is in hers at least not YET. It does not matter their Personality, the only thing that matters is how high on the All Time World List's they can get and how many World Championships and Olympics they can Win or at least Medal in. Track is a Meritocracy Sport, personality, speaking well, speaaking English, criminal records, Mental History, Race, Religion, etc none of that matters, just how close to the World Record and Championships won or medaled are all that matter. They are Very Good in The Sport at the levels they compete at Sha'Carri likely has a Gold Medal as her Goal, Valby likely wants to place well and be in a position where she can Medal by 2028. They are very Good but Sha'Carri is at a Higher Level CURRENTLY as She is the Defending World Champion even Valby probably thinks Sha'Carri is better in the 100 then Valby is in the Long Distances CURRENTLY it changes year by year though.

The title of this thread is crap click bait.

It amazes me how so many people judge and throw shade on PV without knowing her. You can say what you will, just remember that she's a great runner who has had an amazing year. She will chalk up 2023-24 as a "Dream season", which only happens a handful of times during a career. She's weathered a few setbacks over the past couple years (injuries, relentless and sometimes unfair comparison to Touhy, criticism about her training program, etc...). Through it all, she's "answered the bell" and has met expectations of being an elite collegiate AND now soon to be professional athlete, including being an OLYMPIAN. I think it's great she's flashing her smile and personality, SHE DESERVES IT. My only advice is that she keeps this "Dream season" in perspective and understands how cruel the sport of running can be. Don't "get over your skis too much", be humble and always remember that you need to validate your achievements each and every time you toe the line. The bar is high, and anything less will bring strong criticism and sometimes unfair judgment. There's a lot of running to be done, she's off to an amazing start and now the journey begins.

Good Luck.

I think the haters motivate her. She said she wasn’t going to do the 10K until that morning, and I’ll bet the negative takes on her 4th place finish has something to do with her decision to run the race. The haters cost whoever is next in line in the rankings a spot on in the Olympics!

Indeed. Moments after she won the NCAA 5,000 championship this year in record-breaking time, the first question she got asked by John Anderson was, “Who’s the most impressive Parker: Wolfe, Stokes, or you?”

Well when Gault tried to ask her a serious running question she made a mockery of it.

he asked if she ever truly trained to kick since she was such a front runner in college and never needed a kick and she laughed like that was stupid and said she did speed work.

After Jakob I. , and Caitlin Clark, she is definitely and 100% my favorite athlete. Everything about her is awesome!

Would you ask Centro that if he got out kicked for fourth at the Olympic Trials?

What could she possibly say about a loss and/or disappointment that, you would find interesting? We all saw the race.

I’ve following sports for a long time and have rarely seen an interesting interview. They’re really bad in the major team sports and are almost always a bunch of cliches.

This is letsrun. a lot of posters here would love to see the pretty fast girl grilled and tortured and made to cry. even if she doesnt deserve it.

This is not meant to be a knock on Valby but the differences between where is ScR is in her events and where PV is in her events is night and day. In the 100, ScR is arguably the best in the world right now. PV, while very good, is nowhere near being the best in the world nor do I see that for her in the immediate future. There is not a current female distance runner, from the 1500 on up, that is close to being the best in the world.

The closest that we have in those events to being at the top in the world is Nikki Hiltz (currently ranked #11 in the world), Emily Mackay, and ESP. Alicia Monson could also potentially be near the top sans her injury.

The US distance women still have a ways to go to be at the same level as the sprinters are in their respective events.